Page "Peter Lassen" Paragraph 3

Lassen is famous ( or infamous ) for establishing the Lassen Cutoff of the California Trail, which left the main trail near the modern-day Rye Patch Reservoir and crossed a desolate section of what is now northwestern Nevada, including the Black Rock Desert.

The Lassen Cutoff continued to Goose Lake in northeastern California, and then followed the Pit River into California's Central Valley.

Portions of this trail were particularly arduous, and many of its early travelers greatly regretted choosing it.

The Applegate Trail also traveled from Rye Patch Reservoir to Goose Lake.

( The Applegate Trail was intended as a safer alternative to the main route of the Oregon Trail, and it continued into Oregon's Willamette Valley.